A SPEEDY METASEARCH ENGINE THAT MAKES IT EASY TO FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR
If you've been accessing the web since the mid-90's, you've heard of Open Text. It was one of the first major search engines on the Internet, developed by a company of the same name. Eventually, the Open Text Company decided to change its focus and concentrate on selling their search systems to businesses, and the Open Text search engine disappeared.
Query Server is one of the products Open Text is selling, but it's also a nifty metasearch engine, available to anyone who searches the web. In addition to providing general web metasearches, it offers specialized metasearches of four subject areas - health, news, government and money. Everything about Query Server is, clear, compact, efficient and fast. When you use it, you know you're in the hands of a professional.
Web Search: (To get to the search page, click on Web under Search Pages on the upper left side of the page.) Query Server accesses 10 major search engines - AltaVista, AOL, Direct Hit, Excite, FAST, HotBot, MSN, Northern Light, Sprinks, and Yahoo! (Notably missing is Google.) You can choose to search any number of these engines.
Search Tips
There's a drop-down menu under the search box with the choices All of the above terms - to require that all the words you enter appear in each result and Any of the above terms - to return results with all or any number of the search words.
Query Server supports quotation marks to enclose phrases, the Boolean operators AND, OR , NOT and NEAR and the asterisk to search for web pages that contain your search word followed by any ending (e.g., invest* will retrieve items containing investor, investing, investment, etc.)
There is also a menu for choosing the maximum number of results you want to retrieve, another which which lets you choose how long the search should last, and a third menu that gives you three options for organizing the result clusters (groups of results) that Query Server returns to you - by content (subject), by site and content, and by site.
Results with Added Value
The organization, clarity and informativeness of Query Servers's results add greatly to their usefulness, and reduce the time it takes to find the most relevant results for your purposes. Items retrieved from a search all appear on the same page, and are arranged in groups called result clusters.
After your search, you're shown exactly how many results were found and from which search engines. Then you're given a list of clusters of results with the amount of items in each cluster.
For example, when I searched using the phrase "corporate bond funds", I retrieved 149 results in 14 clusters. Since I had chosen the result clusters to be organized by content, some of the groups listed were bonds funds, mutual funds, bonds performance, fixed income, etc. The same search organized by site resulted in clusters for the Vanguard site, CNN site, Sun Trust site, etc. You can select any cluster and be brought to the particular search results of that group.
Each result includes, title, description, relevance rating, size, date, search engine it was retrieved from, and url.
Specialized Searches That are Fast and Wide-Ranging.
Query Server offers specialized searches about four subjects - News, Health, Money and Government, and the search engine selections in all categories are excellent. You can use the same search operators as you did in the web search, and the retrieved items are returned in the same form as web search results. (To get to the specialized search pages, click on the subject you need under Search Pages on the upper left side of the page.)
Health Search is especially notable as it includes a majority of medical search engines appropriate for research instead of the chiefly consumer health engines that most specialized health searches offer. Search engines accessed include Medline, Medscape Clinical Content, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Johns Hopkins Infectious Diseases, Medscape News, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, and others.
Health Search can be particularly helpful when you're looking for reputable research studies on a topic that relates to health. For example, to try to find research on one of the herbal remedies that is popular now, I entered:
garlic AND effects
I retrieved 124 results, many of which were directly relevant to my topic.
Money Search, in contrast, is basically geared to consumers, searching such engines as CNNfn, Investor Guide, Money Magazine, Smart Money, and others. News Search accesses 11 newspapers and news services, while Government Search accesses 13 US government agencies and databases.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/search_engines/73471/2
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Metasearch Engine Review: Vivisimo
isimo is an excellent metasearch engine that also provides access to a number of large, authoritative specialized search engines. Altogether, it's a superb research tool.
Vivisimo (which is trying to sell its product to corporate customers) calls itself a clustering engine rather than a search engine because it organizes the results of other engines into groups or clusters. It seems to be designed to make finding information as convenient as possible for the searcher. Using Vivisimo, you can approach a subject from several orientations, refine your search, and visit sites with a minimum of time and effort.
In addition to accessing 12 web search engines, Vivisimo searches definitive search engines in the fields of health (Medline (or PubMed)), business (Business.com), government (FirstGov), patents (Delphion), news (CNN, World News, others), shopping (Yahoo!Shopping) and auctions (Yahoo!Auctions and eBay).
A RESEARCH POWERHOUSE
Vivisimo is useful for many types of research, but because of its particular combination of general search engines and specialized engines, it's ideal for any type of health-related research. For example, suppose you wanted to find information about the safety and effectiveness of influenza vaccines, new vaccine patents, and news and business developments having to do with vaccines.
You might start your query in Vivisimo by typing influenza vaccine or flu vaccination in the search box and doing a web search. Then, you might choose to search the specialized search engines relevant to your subject by selecting a category in the drop-down menu next to the search box.
If you elected to search Medline (or PubMed), Patents, and News, you would retrieve abstracts of articles from the leading medical journals, abstracts of the latest patents and current news articles
You might refine your search by adding such words (depending on their relevance to the engine you're searching) as safety, effectiveness, delivery systems, demand, etc. to your query.
SEARCH TIPS
You can use the plus and minus signs to require or forbid a word, in addition to the Boolean search operators AND, OR and NOT and NEAR. In my experience, quotation marks to signify a phrase also work although Vivisimo's Search Syntax Page does not include them.
It's advisable to go the search engines you're not familiar with to see which search operators they accept because Vivisimo will only submit your search to the engines that support the operators you enter. (For example, Medline (or PubMed) uses Boolean operators, while FirstGov does not).
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/search_engines/78816
Vivisimo (which is trying to sell its product to corporate customers) calls itself a clustering engine rather than a search engine because it organizes the results of other engines into groups or clusters. It seems to be designed to make finding information as convenient as possible for the searcher. Using Vivisimo, you can approach a subject from several orientations, refine your search, and visit sites with a minimum of time and effort.
In addition to accessing 12 web search engines, Vivisimo searches definitive search engines in the fields of health (Medline (or PubMed)), business (Business.com), government (FirstGov), patents (Delphion), news (CNN, World News, others), shopping (Yahoo!Shopping) and auctions (Yahoo!Auctions and eBay).
A RESEARCH POWERHOUSE
Vivisimo is useful for many types of research, but because of its particular combination of general search engines and specialized engines, it's ideal for any type of health-related research. For example, suppose you wanted to find information about the safety and effectiveness of influenza vaccines, new vaccine patents, and news and business developments having to do with vaccines.
You might start your query in Vivisimo by typing influenza vaccine or flu vaccination in the search box and doing a web search. Then, you might choose to search the specialized search engines relevant to your subject by selecting a category in the drop-down menu next to the search box.
If you elected to search Medline (or PubMed), Patents, and News, you would retrieve abstracts of articles from the leading medical journals, abstracts of the latest patents and current news articles
You might refine your search by adding such words (depending on their relevance to the engine you're searching) as safety, effectiveness, delivery systems, demand, etc. to your query.
SEARCH TIPS
You can use the plus and minus signs to require or forbid a word, in addition to the Boolean search operators AND, OR and NOT and NEAR. In my experience, quotation marks to signify a phrase also work although Vivisimo's Search Syntax Page does not include them.
It's advisable to go the search engines you're not familiar with to see which search operators they accept because Vivisimo will only submit your search to the engines that support the operators you enter. (For example, Medline (or PubMed) uses Boolean operators, while FirstGov does not).
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/search_engines/78816
Reviews of Two First-Rate Consumer Search Engines
In light of the current recession and rising unemployment, it is more important than ever to be an informed consumer. Consumer search engines can help you to identify high-quality items, gain access to product reviews and locate online merchants who sell the products. Two of the best consumer search engines are ConsumerSearch and Active Buyer's Guide.
ConsumerSearch - COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION ABOUT HUNDREDS OF PRODUCTS
You can get an education about hundreds of products using ConsumerSearch. This search engine not only provides valuable background information and reviews of products, it furnishes links to other product reviews which it rates for credibility. In addition it displays the names of online vendors who sell recommended products.
Full Story: For example, suppose you need a new refrigerator, but have no idea what criteria to use in judging this item. After choosing the category Refrigerator, click on Full Story and you'll get a complete description of the different types of refrigerators (e.g., freezer on top, on the bottom, side by side), various product features (e.g., adjustable shelves, icemakers), and an analysis of the price ranges for different models.
Also discussed in Full Story are the opinions of various reviewers and their consensus (if any) concerning the best models for different needs and situations.
Fast Answers: If you're familiar with the features of refrigerators and just want to find out which models are recommended, you can select Fast Answers. Displayed here are the top refrigerators in each category with a paragraph summarizing the research about them. In addition, you're presented with some general information about refrigerators.
All Reviews: To see reviews of refrigerators, click on All Reviews. Here you'll find links to reviews both on the Internet and in publications that you can buy (e.g., Consumer Reports). The reviews are rated by ConsumerSearch, and include discussions about the way the products are tested, and how reliable and informative the reviews are.
Where to Buy: Finally, you can click on Where To Buy to find links to approved online outlets that sell recommended refrigerators. In addition, there are links to several shopping search engines.
ACTIVE BUYER'S GUIDE - HELPING YOU FIND THE BEST PRODUCT FOR YOUR NEEDS
Active Buyer's Guide is like ConsumerSearch in that it contains a lot of information about the products it covers, however it encompasses far fewer products. Unlike ConsumerSearch, it also provides a search engine and an interactive buyer's guide that can help you find a product specifically suited to your needs.
Let's continue with our example of trying to find information that will be helpful in buying a new refrigerator. After selecting the category Refrigerators, you're offered three categories of information - Refrigerator Decision Guide, Basic Search, and Tips for Buying Refrigerators.
Tips for Buying: If don't know what to base your purchasing decision on, click on Tips For Buying Refrigerators. Here you'll find information about several features of refrigerators, (e.g., price, freezer location, shelves, bins, etc.), and a discussion of why they may be important to people with particular needs.
Basic Search: Your next step might be to search for products by selecting Basic Search . The Active Buyer's Guide search system provides two ways to search - by specific brand or model, or by using its menu to specify the features you want. For example in refrigerators, you can specify the price, brand, color, freezer location and size. I have found this search feature to be extremely useful and effective.
Each result includes a link to a picture of the product, a list of over 40 features (including color, capacity, yearly energy consumption, refrigerator shelf type, etc.) retail outlets selling the product, reviews of the product, and the price. (Of course, the list of features varies by product.)
Selecting a result transports you to a page for that specific refrigerator which includes links to product reviews and online vendors who sell the item, plus links to general information about refrigerator features and a glossary of terms relating to refrigerators.
Side-by-Side Charts: A fabulous feature of Active Buyer's Guide is that you can compare all the features of an unlimited number of resulting models in a side-by-side chart by simply checking the Compare box included for each result.
Decision Guide: The Decision Guide (in this case Refrigerator Decision Guide) is an interactive question and answer exercise which is supposed to provide you with a list of the products that best fit your needs. You're asked to specify which features you care about most, rating how desirable a particular feature is to you. The "tradeoffs" are where it really gets tricky. For example, would you rather have an icemaker and one bin or three bins and no icemaker?
My attempt to use the Decision Guide did not result in a list of products appropriate for me. You may have a different experience.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/search_engines/81237/2
ConsumerSearch - COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION ABOUT HUNDREDS OF PRODUCTS
You can get an education about hundreds of products using ConsumerSearch. This search engine not only provides valuable background information and reviews of products, it furnishes links to other product reviews which it rates for credibility. In addition it displays the names of online vendors who sell recommended products.
Full Story: For example, suppose you need a new refrigerator, but have no idea what criteria to use in judging this item. After choosing the category Refrigerator, click on Full Story and you'll get a complete description of the different types of refrigerators (e.g., freezer on top, on the bottom, side by side), various product features (e.g., adjustable shelves, icemakers), and an analysis of the price ranges for different models.
Also discussed in Full Story are the opinions of various reviewers and their consensus (if any) concerning the best models for different needs and situations.
Fast Answers: If you're familiar with the features of refrigerators and just want to find out which models are recommended, you can select Fast Answers. Displayed here are the top refrigerators in each category with a paragraph summarizing the research about them. In addition, you're presented with some general information about refrigerators.
All Reviews: To see reviews of refrigerators, click on All Reviews. Here you'll find links to reviews both on the Internet and in publications that you can buy (e.g., Consumer Reports). The reviews are rated by ConsumerSearch, and include discussions about the way the products are tested, and how reliable and informative the reviews are.
Where to Buy: Finally, you can click on Where To Buy to find links to approved online outlets that sell recommended refrigerators. In addition, there are links to several shopping search engines.
ACTIVE BUYER'S GUIDE - HELPING YOU FIND THE BEST PRODUCT FOR YOUR NEEDS
Active Buyer's Guide is like ConsumerSearch in that it contains a lot of information about the products it covers, however it encompasses far fewer products. Unlike ConsumerSearch, it also provides a search engine and an interactive buyer's guide that can help you find a product specifically suited to your needs.
Let's continue with our example of trying to find information that will be helpful in buying a new refrigerator. After selecting the category Refrigerators, you're offered three categories of information - Refrigerator Decision Guide, Basic Search, and Tips for Buying Refrigerators.
Tips for Buying: If don't know what to base your purchasing decision on, click on Tips For Buying Refrigerators. Here you'll find information about several features of refrigerators, (e.g., price, freezer location, shelves, bins, etc.), and a discussion of why they may be important to people with particular needs.
Basic Search: Your next step might be to search for products by selecting Basic Search . The Active Buyer's Guide search system provides two ways to search - by specific brand or model, or by using its menu to specify the features you want. For example in refrigerators, you can specify the price, brand, color, freezer location and size. I have found this search feature to be extremely useful and effective.
Each result includes a link to a picture of the product, a list of over 40 features (including color, capacity, yearly energy consumption, refrigerator shelf type, etc.) retail outlets selling the product, reviews of the product, and the price. (Of course, the list of features varies by product.)
Selecting a result transports you to a page for that specific refrigerator which includes links to product reviews and online vendors who sell the item, plus links to general information about refrigerator features and a glossary of terms relating to refrigerators.
Side-by-Side Charts: A fabulous feature of Active Buyer's Guide is that you can compare all the features of an unlimited number of resulting models in a side-by-side chart by simply checking the Compare box included for each result.
Decision Guide: The Decision Guide (in this case Refrigerator Decision Guide) is an interactive question and answer exercise which is supposed to provide you with a list of the products that best fit your needs. You're asked to specify which features you care about most, rating how desirable a particular feature is to you. The "tradeoffs" are where it really gets tricky. For example, would you rather have an icemaker and one bin or three bins and no icemaker?
My attempt to use the Decision Guide did not result in a list of products appropriate for me. You may have a different experience.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/search_engines/81237/2
Reviews of Two Legal Search Engines for Consumers
'm a believer in the old adage "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," but not when I need the services of a lawyer. I find that when I'm familiar with the basic legal facts about a matter, my lawyer and I can accomplish my goal with a minimum of confusion, in the shortest time possible.
For example, if I'm drawing up a will, it helps to know who can be chosen as an executor, what a living trust is, and how property can be divided, so that I can mull over my own preferences about these issues before seeing my attorney.
Of course, if my legal facts are not accurate, they will be less than worthless. Two specialized search engines that provide access to reputable legal information for consumers are USLaw.com and FindLaw for the Public.
USLaw.com - CLEAR, COMPREHENSIVE LEGAL INFORMATION FOR CONSUMERS
USLaw.com is without a doubt the best place to go for consumer information about legal matters. The information you'll find here is consistently well-organized, well-written and informative. Although the articles are not overly long, they are amazingly comprehensive, and touch on the major issues relating to a topic.
There are about 2,000 articles in USLaw's database. The main areas it covers are family law, employment, immigration, real estate, finance, health and injury, crime and the courts, commercial issues and small business. Most seem to have been written specifically for USLaw.com by professionals in various fields of law, or have been excerpted from books.
Although the number of documents in the database is not large, its scope is relatively limited - the common legal concerns of individuals and small businesses - so most searches result in a fairly long list of relevant, helpful articles.
Search Tips
No search operators are available in USLaw.com. Entering one or two search words having to do with your subject will usually retrieve the best results. For example, if you are withholding your rent payments because your landlord is not providing heat and you want to find information about the legal ramifications, you might enter
withhold rent
This would retrieve 13 articles, most with direct relevance to your subject (e.g. Landlord and Tenant: Solutions for Breach of the Warranty of Implied Habitability and Landlord and Tenant: When Payment of Rent is Excused).
Each search result includes the title of the item and a short description.
Special Features
Special features at USLaw include a search engine for locating USLaw.com prescreened attorneys in your area, plus two fee-based services - access to the advice of a staff lawyer either in real time or by e-mail, and a service enabling you to create your own legal documents
FindLaw FOR THE PUBLIC - RETRIEVES LEGAL INFORMATION FROM MANY SOURCES
FindLaw for the Public is part of FindLaw, a very large site that is geared to providing information for legal professionals. A particularly useful feature of FindLaw for the Public are the legal "guides" covering many areas of law that are of special interest to consumers. These guides contain links to various types of information and resources, including articles, FAQ's, legal forms, message boards, etc.
Search Tips
FindLaw for the Public gives you a choice of 10 databases to search (on its drop-down menu) - FindLaw, document library, legal dictionary, legal news, legal websites, all websites, US government sites, US Supreme Court, all Circuit Courts, and the US Constitution. For the average consumer, searching the legal websites will provide the most useful information.
When searching the legal websites, you can use the minus sign to exclude a word and quotation marks to indicate a phrase.
Results
The format of the items retrieved differ among the databases. Items resulting from a search of the legal websites contain the title, a description and the url.
Special Features
You can find lawyers in many specialties using FindLaw's extensive search engine. In addition, you can get information and advice relating to your topic, and read many sad stories at FindLaw's message boards.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/search_engines/88089/2
For example, if I'm drawing up a will, it helps to know who can be chosen as an executor, what a living trust is, and how property can be divided, so that I can mull over my own preferences about these issues before seeing my attorney.
Of course, if my legal facts are not accurate, they will be less than worthless. Two specialized search engines that provide access to reputable legal information for consumers are USLaw.com and FindLaw for the Public.
USLaw.com - CLEAR, COMPREHENSIVE LEGAL INFORMATION FOR CONSUMERS
USLaw.com is without a doubt the best place to go for consumer information about legal matters. The information you'll find here is consistently well-organized, well-written and informative. Although the articles are not overly long, they are amazingly comprehensive, and touch on the major issues relating to a topic.
There are about 2,000 articles in USLaw's database. The main areas it covers are family law, employment, immigration, real estate, finance, health and injury, crime and the courts, commercial issues and small business. Most seem to have been written specifically for USLaw.com by professionals in various fields of law, or have been excerpted from books.
Although the number of documents in the database is not large, its scope is relatively limited - the common legal concerns of individuals and small businesses - so most searches result in a fairly long list of relevant, helpful articles.
Search Tips
No search operators are available in USLaw.com. Entering one or two search words having to do with your subject will usually retrieve the best results. For example, if you are withholding your rent payments because your landlord is not providing heat and you want to find information about the legal ramifications, you might enter
withhold rent
This would retrieve 13 articles, most with direct relevance to your subject (e.g. Landlord and Tenant: Solutions for Breach of the Warranty of Implied Habitability and Landlord and Tenant: When Payment of Rent is Excused).
Each search result includes the title of the item and a short description.
Special Features
Special features at USLaw include a search engine for locating USLaw.com prescreened attorneys in your area, plus two fee-based services - access to the advice of a staff lawyer either in real time or by e-mail, and a service enabling you to create your own legal documents
FindLaw FOR THE PUBLIC - RETRIEVES LEGAL INFORMATION FROM MANY SOURCES
FindLaw for the Public is part of FindLaw, a very large site that is geared to providing information for legal professionals. A particularly useful feature of FindLaw for the Public are the legal "guides" covering many areas of law that are of special interest to consumers. These guides contain links to various types of information and resources, including articles, FAQ's, legal forms, message boards, etc.
Search Tips
FindLaw for the Public gives you a choice of 10 databases to search (on its drop-down menu) - FindLaw, document library, legal dictionary, legal news, legal websites, all websites, US government sites, US Supreme Court, all Circuit Courts, and the US Constitution. For the average consumer, searching the legal websites will provide the most useful information.
When searching the legal websites, you can use the minus sign to exclude a word and quotation marks to indicate a phrase.
Results
The format of the items retrieved differ among the databases. Items resulting from a search of the legal websites contain the title, a description and the url.
Special Features
You can find lawyers in many specialties using FindLaw's extensive search engine. In addition, you can get information and advice relating to your topic, and read many sad stories at FindLaw's message boards.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/search_engines/88089/2
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